


Without Withholding

by loveinadoorway



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-23
Updated: 2013-02-23
Packaged: 2017-12-03 09:00:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/696563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveinadoorway/pseuds/loveinadoorway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>LJ comment_fic prompt by Crearealidad - any, any, "The Stranger" - Melissa Ferrick<br/>Fic title and quotes are from the song.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Without Withholding

_“these lessons are everywhere in my life  
you know I never waited for anyone and I was always right”_

His whole life, Derek had been apart from the world.  
Born a werewolf, at first he just had kept his distance from the “normal” kids to preserve his family secret. Over the years, the distance had grown and he found it harder and harder to relate, to make contact, to fit in.

Tragedy struck.  
When his family died in the fire, he couldn’t have felt any guiltier had he lit the match himself. His wolf had always known that this woman could not be trusted, but the young, inexperienced human part of him had ignored the wolf instincts. He had pretended not to feel the hair on his neck rise when he met her and had not heeded the warning the wolf gave him that last night.

His fault, all of it.  
Then Laura was gone, too and the world had receded even further. He could go for days without talking to a soul, buried himself in the burned-out hull of the house and growled at anyone unlucky enough to cross his path. The distance became a necessity, the only way he would not get hurt and hurt no one in turn.

All that had changed overnight.  
The kid with the verbal diarrhea had not so much smashed the walls he had erected around himself, as slipped through the cracks until he was lodged firmly inside. Until he became a part of Derek’s comfort zone, until Derek felt like there might be some hope for a life filled with more than regret, despair and ashes.

Stiles became his interpreter, his link to the world.  
Derek would be hard pressed to say just when he realized that he needed Stiles. That he had grown to depend on the kid, for help in pack matters as much as for emotional sustenance. He resented these feelings, hated the need, because all there would be in it for him would be more disappointment and more pain.

Things were changing.  
When Stiles defiantly stared him in the eye and boldly declared his love for Derek, it was the werewolf that reacted instantly. The wolf overrode all human fears and instincts and just claimed, without considering any dangers. The wolf sucked a mark on Stiles’ throat and rejoiced at the noises the kid made at that.

The wolf took and the kid consented.  
When Derek awoke, Stiles was draped all over him, tangled up in him, fast asleep, trusting. It was that more than anything else that made the human inside of him believe they might have a chance. The walls were still there, but there was a gap in them now. The morning sunlight filtering through the window shone right through that gap and warmed his soul.

There was hope now.  
Not much, truth be told, but given there had been none before, even a little hope was definitely an improvement. Derek smiled, as he gently rubbed Stiles’ back. He was trusting his wolf to know who Stiles was and what he could mean to him. The wolf gave a contented little snort and recommended going back to sleep for a bit.  
Derek buried his face in Stiles’ neck and closed his eyes, still smiling.

_“waiting wanting_  
_to see you in my eyes_  
_finding feelings_  
_that I thought were buried inside”_


End file.
